Gorefest Dungeon's setting, originally, was a virtual reality not far afield of that found in Vanilla Sky or Total Recall . It was a dream world shared technologically. It was a virtual reality game "played" by the dreamer. For our reboot, we'll return to that setting. First of all, remember that this setting is only window dressing. There's little difference between a fantasy world and a world that exists within fantasy. The PC's are dreamers who, for the most part, believe the world and his experiences in it are real. As is the case with most dreams, the dreamer does not realize that he is asleep. Also, things that can make sense in one's dreams often cease to make sense when one awakes. The dreamer somehow and for some reason rationalizes experiences in a dream. Often, that which is out of place in a dream goes entirely unnoticed. For example, I once had a dream I was a sword-swinging knight. It never occurred to me while dreaming how absurd it was that I rode around on top of a Honda Civic, steering it with reins while sitting in a saddle. In another dream, I could fly, but no one found that unusual. I never considered when I was able to begin flying or why. I could just fly and that was perfectly normal. All this isn't to say that Gorefest Dungeon will become less serious or more absurd or silly or any more fantastic than it already was. It remains standard dungeon-crawl fantasy . For you, as players, almost nothing has changed. For me, as the game master, I'm freed from a number of difficult and time-consuming tasks. I don't have to further rationalize anything, really. If I want to put a dragon in a basement, I don't have to worry about assembling a massive task force to give it care, to clean its "stall," to remove its waste by the truck load, to feed it herds of cattle and buckets of water. In fact, the entire economy would probably be centered on sustaining a giant carnivorous animal such as that, but not so in a video game. Gorefest Dungeon is not similar to the holodek in Star Trek . It's a bit more similar to the Matrix where one is "plugged in" and mentally experiences a shared virtual reality. However, it's dissimilar in other ways. One can become aware that he or she is in the Matrix, but that is less often the case in Gorefest Dungeon . Even if one witnesses the extreme supernatural, or is shown that the world is not real, it will have little affect on the dreamer. In the Matrix, one's cognition is his own. In Gorefest , the dreamer's original identity is almost entirely lost and he is "fed" new thoughts, experiences, emotions, and memories. In this way, Gorefest is much more like Vanilla Sky or Total Recall . If one dreams he is a wizard that can bend the laws of physics with the wave of a magic wand, then so be it. It makes sense not only to the wizard-dreamer, but also to those who share the reality and bare witness. The dreamer needn't know how to swing a broadsword to do so expertly in the dream. The dreamer needn't know how to seduce women and be the life of a party to be a charismatic lady's man in Gorefest . Have a lengthy character background story? Great. It's cannon. In fact, in the game, it was fed to your character as reality. Have no background story at all? Not a problem. It will never come up in the game because no background actually exists, and that is logical and reasonable to everyone in the world. Change your mind and now your character has a background? Just fine. The game world "updated" and now you have a background. For all intents and purposes, it is as if your character always had that background. In this way, Gorefest is little different than a time-travel science fiction. As a game master, this allows me to focus on creating a fun gaming experience rather than one that is logical. Questions like, "Why does the evil wizard have a pit of lava in his tower's entry hall and where did the lava come from and why is it still bubbling hot?" needn't be considered. Automatically, all my monster, puzzle, trap, and treasure placement are validated. Not only is this a game that we are playing, it's a game that your characters are playing— they just don't know it. The biggest change is in plot. No longer will I attempt to entice your characters to go into the dungeon, or rationalize why they are there. I've already done so. There also no need to connect your characters socially. You're all there and you all either know each other or don't; it doesn't mater. It's no less logical than if there was an in-game reason to form a team because whatever bio-tech hive mind that's controlling your character's thoughts forces your character to believe it is logical. We needn't become existential philosophers to play Gorefest . Quite the opposite! Play your characters as you see fit. Do what you want. Have fun. Just don't chase the rabbit down the hole too deeply. An intelligent person doesn't play The Legend of Zelda and wonder how or why the moblins suddenly appear out of nowhere to fling spears at Link. Sure, we can imagine reasons . We can imagine that the video game people are conscious, sentient beings living in our Nintendo. But an intelligent person doesn't actually believe that while hammering the 'A' button to shoot a sword. He knows it's a video game programmed by Japanese who want to take over the world by influencing our youth's minds. Again, no need to turn this into philosophy 101. When I say the only goal in Gorefest Dungeon is to kill stuff and loot treasure, indeed, that is the absolute truth. Of course I'll give you goals inside a dungeon. Of course I'll role play NPC's to the fullest, and I'll expect no less effort from you as the players. Of course I'll do my best to create a strong atmosphere and ensure immersion . None of that is changed and neither has your characters' memory, knowledge, personality, motivations, or beliefs. All of this is just window dressing to make my job easier. Honestly, it's the same as rationalizing the illogical with, "It's magic!" Thanks for reading! — Sharpe